Misty Anne fire
The Misty Anne fire was a major maritime disaster which took place on 20 May 2012, when the MS Misty Anne caught fire off the coast of Sunshine Coast, less than a mile from it's destination at Leeds Sea Port, on it's return from a cruise to and from the Baltic with 3,000 people aboard. MS Misty Anne The MS Misty Anne started construction in January 2002 at Nagasaki, Japan, by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, on behalf of P&O Cruises who has initially placed an order for it. She was completed in April 2004, however just days later and before the ship could be launched, P&O Cruises cancelled the order. As a result, the ship lay unused and unnamed at Nagasaki dry docks until it was bought by Leeds Ferries Global in 2010 as their very first ship. They named it the Misty Anne; it was quickly launched and had it's maiden voyage in July 2010 before entering service in October that year. After the fire On 22 May, Leeds Ferries Global announced they expected the ship to be a "constructive total loss". It was moved via crane into the neighbouring dry docks of the Leeds Shipyard on 23 May. After inspections of the ship at the dry docks of Leeds Shipyard, Leeds Ferries Global withdrew the ship from their fleet on 25 May and sold it to a scrap metal company to deconstruct and scrap the vessel. Later, on 29 May, they withdrew the MS Americano and put it up for sale; it is still for sale as of 19 June, stored unused in a dry dock at the Shipyard. Work began on scrapping the Misty Anne ''on 29 May. It will be first deconstructed into five different main sections, from which it can be scrapped easily. The separation was complete by 3 June and as of 19 June, one section has been completely scrapped and another is almost completely scrapped, with the other three not yet touched. Fire The ''Misty Anne ''was on the final leg of her Leeds-Baltic-Leeds cruise, and was less than half a mile away from Leeds Sea Port when there was a shudder and sudden loss of power at around 1430 BST. The captain informed the Port Authority at Leeds of the loss of power, but did not declare a mayday as she was in deep water and he believed he could restart the engines. However, after three attempts, the captain gave up and requested a tug to tow her into Leeds at around 1445. At this point, no one had yet realised there had been an explosion and fire in the engine room. By 1500, the engine room was found to be well alight by crew members as they went into the engine room to check what had happened. They immediately informed the captain, who declared a mayday and called for firefighting ships and tugs to come to her rescue. An order to abandon ship was declared at 1510, and people were informed to enter the lifeboats and, once full, lower them into the sea and row onto Cocoa Beach (the nearest suitable land). However by this point, the fire had spread via heating pipes to the top deck, which quickly became well ablaze. Within minutes, part of the top six decks were burning fiercely, and there was thick smoke throughout the ship which made evacuating difficult. To make matters worse, the lighting went out for the whole ship at 1515, leaving it in darkness except for the emergency lighting, which consisted of few and far between dim green lights which made almost no difference. By 1530, there was no one else arriving at the life boats, so the captain presumed everyone had escaped his cruise ship and he himself abandoned ship on the last lifeboat, just as the firefighting vessels and tugs were pulling alongside the ''Misty Anne. Firefighting effort The firefighting ships initially started spraying water on the ship where she was from 1530; however, she was drifting and it was difficult to keep spraying the water on her accurately, and there was a danger of her running aground, so the tugs towed her into Leeds Sea Port where the fire could be fought more effectively. During this time, the Sea Port was closed and cleared of all ships. The firefighting effort continued at 1545 after she was moored at the Sea Port, with water being sprayed on her by at least eight different firefighting boats and dozens of land vehicles at the portside. The firefighting continued for hours, until the fierce fire was finally extinguished at 0145 on 21 May. Aftermath Following the extinguishing of the fire, rescuers entered the ship to find any people alive. They found no one on board alive, but they did find 15 people who had been killed. Divers at the site of the initial fire also recovered two bodies and debris from the explosion. The ship's on board pumps, which were still working despite damage from the fire, were used to pump out all the water that had accumulated in the ship to make her list. None of the water was seawater, it was purely the sheer amount of water used by the fire brigade on her that had accumulated on her and the weight of it was making her list ever so slightly. Divers confirmed there was no damage below the waterline, so she was safe from sinking. Reactions Leeds Ferries Global Leeds Ferries Global said in a press conference on 21 May that they were "devastated" at the "loss of a great ship" and "terribly sorry for the loss of life". MS Americano, the Misty Anne's sister ship, was withdrawn from service for safety checks as it is of identical design to the Misty Anne. Surveying the Americano ''may also help investigators find out what caused the ''Misty Anne ''fire, as the ''Americano ''has an identical engine. On 22 May Leeds Ferries Global confirmed that they expected the ''Misty Anne to be a "constructive total loss". It was later withdrawn and scrapped. Industry experts According to industry experts, the ship is believed to be a constructive total loss. When the Misty Anne ''was scrapped, many called for the ''Americano ''to be scrapped due to it's similarity. Media The accident gained intensive media coverage around the world, as it was perhaps the first ever major large-scale fire on a in-service large cruise ship. The ''Leeds Gazette ''used the same headline as they used after the MS Diamond disaster. On 21 May, the front page of the ''Leeds Gazette ''caried the simple but now famous headline "Oops". Meanwhile, in the UK, ''The Sun ''used the headline "Gotcha! Oh wait, that's no battleship...", playing on the headline they played when British forces sunk the ''General Belgrano ''during the Falklands War ("Gotcha!"). Fatalities At the time there were 3,000 people on board, including 600 crew and 2,400 passengers. 15 people burned to death, of which 8 were crew and 7 passengers, while a further 2 passengers drowned after falling overboard in the panic to abandon ship. 100 other people, 30 crew and 70 passengers, suffered varying injuries, including burns, smoke inhalation, and hypothermia. 40 people suffered major injuries. Investigation and cause An investigation to the cause of the fire is underway. As the ''Misty Anne's engine room is so badly damaged, most of the investigation work will be conducted on the MS Americano, which is identical to the Misty Anne. Dramatization As per usual it now seems for all major Leeds disasters, ''Seconds From Disaster ''announced on 22 May that they would make an episode about the ''Misty Anne ''fire, titled "Smokey Anne". It will be aired in October 2012. Gallery Misty Anne fire damage.jpg|Damage to some of the top decks, seen on 22 May. Smokey Anne.jpg|Smoke lingers around the site at around 0200 on 20 May, shortly after the fire was extinguished. Misty Anne fire 2.jpg|The raging fire at around 2300 on 20 May. Misty Anne fire.jpg|Firefighting boats spray water on the burning ship at 1900 on 20 May. Misty Anne.jpg|The ship in Hobart, Australia in 2011 during it's World Tour